1.4 [in singular] The outward appearance of someone or something, especially as distinct from less obvious aspects:Tom was a womanizer, but on the surface he remained respectable [as modifier]:surface appearances

surfacer

Origen

This is from Latin superficies ‘surface’, and was at first used in the literal sense. The word came to be applied to people meaning ‘shallow’ in the early 17th century (Shakespeare Measure for Measure: ‘A very superficial, ignorant, unweighing fellow’). Surface (early 17th century) was a 16th-century French coinage based on the Latin.